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Snacking can be a very positive part of your day. It can help manage a healthy appetite by avoiding over-eating at meals, or eating the "wrong" things. Snacks can also help provide lots of vitamins and minerals throughout the day.

Recent studies prove that snacking on the right foods at the right time can turn your body into a fat-burning machine. Get your metabolism going with a pre-dinner snack, 1-2 hours before your main meal. Doing so will help you stop eating once you're full, which is sometimes hard to do. The key to snacking is to keep the snack light so you won't overdo it, but to make it hearty enough that it will satiate you. Also, aim for a snack that's 6 grams of fiber, 10 grams of protein, and one that is approximately 200 calories.

It's that time of year again for pumpkin. I recently provided a pumpkin cookie recipe. Here is a great bread that is lusciously moist, gluten free, dairy free and quick made with high protein almond flour. This came from www.elanaspantry.com. Enjoy and let us know how you like it !

Happy
belated National Food Day - which was October 24, 2011.(more info @ foodday.org) The purpose of this day was to promote the use of "healthy,
affordable whole foodproduced
in a sustainable, humane
way."This is also the foundation
of my work as a dietitian working in integrative and functional medicine, before
I discuss with a client individual diet and potential supplementation advise.In general, it should be the daily food
guide for everyone, everyday.

"Eat whole
sustainable local foods as much as possible."This can be an easy mental guide for people to follow when
they are trying to make a healthy food decision.

As we continue in
this great time of year for farmers markets, vegetable gardens, there are still
many delicious foods that we associate with the sunny days of summer: sweet
blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries; succulent plums,
apricots, peaches, and nectarines; deep red Bing or bright yellow Rainier
cherries; flavorful red and black grapes, velvety mangoes and kiwi; and juicy
watermelons. And there's so much more: sweet yellow or red onions, pungent
garlic, dark leafy greens and lettuces, red tomatoes, green zucchini squash,
and bright yellow crookneck squash.

It's a great time of year to "develop a better relationship
with Food".To seek fresh, local
and sustainable foods such as produce and meats at the farmers markets, your
local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm or local natural foods
store.If you have not made the
change to local or regional foods, make a goal to shop at one of these venues
in the next 7 days and change your life forever.You will feel better, have more energy and start to create
the foundation to vital health.

This is part one of a two part article. Both were blogged on the same day.

The Function of Farming Determines the Function of You

The Farm -to-Fork ("Farm-to") movement is one of many programs, which is evidence of a paradigm shift in how we think, grow, purchase and use food.
Sprouted from the desire to support community-based food systems, strengthen family farms, and improve the health of our land and ourselve's, the sustainable farm movement is amongst the fastest growing business in the world.

Healthy Food access, by all accounts, by now should be viewed as a foundational birthright. So why are so many of us still without access to it ? Because there isn't enough local, sustainable farms to serve us. If you purchase organic foods from your local supermarket, you purchase foods with little nutritional value. These foods are picked way before the ripened state; the state of highest nutritional value. SO they are pretty "dead" in terms of nutritional life. You are also supporting the area where it came from - thousands of miles away, not your local area. In essence, you're really not getting anything for the purchase of it.

Indian diets are high in vegetables, low in animal proteins and have very little to no additives, and/or processed foods. Indian spices add a variety of exotic tastes and experiences in each dish. The spice mixes included the 5 main tastes of sweet, sour, hot, salty, and bitter. The best places to purchase spices are in special Indian or Asian grocery stores.

Food is THE most important element to health, and therefore to virtually every aspect of our lives. Eating REAL WHOLE FOODS in it's original form, eating CLEAN FOODS without added chemicals, pesticides, etc, and eating foods from SUSTAINABLE AND NUTRITIOUS SOIL is becoming more and more known has the standard components for building the foundation of any persons diet - despite the state if their health and health goals. Without these elements, other forms of therapy, such as supplementation, will be compromised and positive impact on health will be limited.

Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) The Grassroots Alternative to Certified Organics, is A NEW MOVEMENT we all need to learn about . See website www.naturallygrown.org

So often I've heard people say "eating healthy is too expensive". With our current economy, many people are buying more into this claim. I think #1: The method of marketing foods in our culture, #2:The American "food service culture", and #3:The family norms around food are important components of our lives that have become so steered away from whole, more sustainable foods, that sustainable whole foods eating has become a thing of the past for many people. Organic "clean" eating has become more of an art form and a challenge than it needs or should be.And therefore, economics is tied all around these challenges.

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Mary Beth McCue RD, LDN, CDN - Integrative Nutrition Consultant

Rebalance your mind, body and soul with tools and advice from nutritionist Mary Beth McCue. For more than 20 years, Mary Beth has helped many optimize their health and resolve unique chronic health conditions relating to weight, digestion, food intolerances, energy & metabolism, depression, inflammation, aging and more. She has initiated a variety of first time programming in corporate, community, collegiate, National Spa & Retreat Centers, Rehabilitation Farms and Organic Farms, and more. Mary Beth was appointed by the CEO of a large Health Care Organization to initiate an Integrative Health Model. This programming successfully continues today.

Nominated as "Dietitian of the Year" while working for the largest employer of Dietitians in the world, Mary Beth McCue is a Licensed and Certified Nutritionist who specializes in Integrative and Functional Medicine Concepts. She is amongst a very small percentage of nutritionists in this field whom have dedicated their professional education and training with organizations such as Harvard Medical School, The Duke Center for Integrative Medicine, The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) and the American College of Sports Medicine. Mary Beth is an avid hiker, biker, and skier. Strength training, yoga and her black lab help keep a check on the daily balances. Learn more at www.SaratogaNutrition.com.